


all the roads untravelled

by ThatPawnbrokersShopAroundTheCorner



Series: Snapshots [4]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Conversations, Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-10
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-04-20 03:37:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4771994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatPawnbrokersShopAroundTheCorner/pseuds/ThatPawnbrokersShopAroundTheCorner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“She didn't make you truly happy, Will.” Hannibal's hands tighten their grip on the steering wheel. “She just made it easier for you to pretend. She nearly made you feel normal. That's an accomplishment.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	all the roads untravelled

**Author's Note:**

> Part 4 of the 'Snapshots' series: a collection/ corpus of connected to each other but not always chronologically ordered drabbles dealing with Hannibal and Will, their fall and what happened before, after and during it. Spoilers for 'The Wrath of the Lamb', episode 3x13.

 

* * *

 

Will looks out of the window, his hands utterly calm. His wedding ring is already gone. He has no need for it. Not anymore. Especially not considering where he's going.

But still, he allows himself a moment, closing his eyes as he thinks of _her_ : her easy-going manner, her smile, and the way she nearly always managed to make him laugh.

“I am sure she's a good woman,” Hannibal says, just like that, cutting into Will's thoughts, like he always has, and always will.

Will's eyes flutter open, a jaded smile curves across his mouth. “Yes. She made me happy – in a way no one else ever could have.”

“You are implying that I don't make you happy then?” Hannibal doesn't sound hurt, but Will knows that he is.

He sighs, looking at Hannibal – at this man who's become such a fixture in his life no matter how much he tried to forget. “You make me feel a lot of things, Hannibal. But happy? No.”

“She didn't make you truly happy, Will.” Hannibal's hands tighten their grip on the steering wheel. “She just made it easier for you to pretend. She nearly made you feel normal. That's an accomplishment.”

Will sighs. He doesn't expect Hannibal to understand that he and Molly weren't about pretense. “We both knew what we signed up for when we got married. She knew about you. I knew how much she still missed her dead husband. We tried to make the best out of it, and it worked for a while.”

Hannibal snorts. “It was hardly much when all it took for the foundation to crumble was a glimpse of what you really are and what you truly need.”

Will grits his teeth. He wants to punch Hannibal, but he doesn't. There's no point. “So you're arrogant enough to assume that what I am is your little murder husband, and that what I need is _you_? Please kindly go fuck yourself, Hannibal.” 

He hears laughter, and Will looks at Hannibal, at the way his eyes crinkle, and how it takes years away from his face. He finds that he can't look away.

“You can curse me in any manner you like, Will. It doesn't change the fact that you're here, with me.”

And Hannibal has a point, but Will is tired, and he wishes Hannibal would just _see_ for once. “Because I want to be. But don't assume that I'm happy about it, because I'm not. I never could be, because you --” His hands curl to fists, and he tells himself to calm down, but he's shaking. “You make me feel a lot of things, so many things and as much as I hate it, you're the only person who ...makes me feel like myself. That's why I'm here. Because you're the only one --” he looks at Hannibal, and their eyes meet, “who could ever understand.” 

And Will is tired of their cat and mouse game. He just wants to have a goddamned moment of peace. He laughs bitterly at that thought. “Unfortunately, the right things for us don't always make us happy.”

Hannibal shakes his head. “I disagree. Because I can make you happy, Will. And I will. I promise.”

***

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